Michael Keaton is having fun reprising his role for Beetlejuice 2.
While speaking with Empire, the actor teased that the film has been “so great” and teased that he, along with director Tim Burton, are following the same formula as the original 1988 film.
“Beetlejuice is the most fuckin’ fun you can have working. It’s so fun, it’s so great. And you know what it is? We’re doing it exactly like we did the first movie,” he told Empire. “There’s a woman in the great waiting room for the afterlife literally with a fishing line — I want people to know this because I love it — tugging on the tail of a cat to make it move.”
Keaton also shared that the sequel has been a long time coming as he and Burton had been talking about another Beetlejuice film for “years and years” without telling anyone.
“We’ve both said we’re doing it many times. We both agreed, if it happens, it has to be done as close to the way we made it the first time. Making stuff up, making stuff happen, improvising and riffing, but literally handmade stuff like people creating things with their hands and building something,” Keaton said.
He added, “Fuckin’ great. It’s the most fun I’ve had working on a movie in I can’t tell you how long.”
Warner Bros. will release Beetlejuice 2 on Sept. 6, 2024. In addition to Keaton, the film also features returning stars Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara, while Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci and Willem Dafoe join the cast. The film also reunites Burton with his Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, who will play Ryder’s character’s daughter.
Dafoe is set to portray a law enforcement officer in the afterlife while Bellucci will play Beetlejuice’s wife.
The original Beetlejuice, which also starred Alec Baldwin, Geena Davis and Jeffrey Jones, grossed $80 million.
Burton and Brad Pitt’s Plan B will produce Beetlejuice 2. Al Gough and Miles Millar, the creators of Netflix series Wednesday, wrote the screenplay.
